Two Houses of One Lord

Ľubo Stacho, Monika Stacho

In diptych form, the project presents the interiors of Jewish synagogues and Christian churches in their respective communities in Slovakia. They testify to the passage of time and a loss of interest in cultural legacy—in the form of demolished houses and useless buildings that have been robbed of their original purpose. The images speak of the moral vacuum that takes the place of religious and cultural tradition. Following the end of World War II, the Jewish community in Slovakia was nearly decimated; now, it has just about disappeared altogether. The exhibition aims to illuminate European culture’s common Jewish–Christian roots and the risk of spiritual neglect and identity loss they are subjected to. Can the spaces photographed retain their “genius loci”, even in pairs? Can they still hold onto their aura, which is based on a friction between spirituality and consumerism? One interior illuminates the other and fills it with energy inside these “two houses of one Lord.”